When I got my hands on this Victorinox Swiss Army Rescue Knife I could only imagine how much more McGyver would have gotten done if he had one. First off, this knife is by no means a small knife. The knife is about 4 3/4″ long x 3/4″ thick x 1 1/4″ high. When opened using the large blade it is almost 8″ long. It is also pretty heavy, with the knife alone weighing in at 6 ounces and the sheath weighing in at 1.6 ounces for a total weight of 7.6 ounces. This knife was designed to be used with your turnout gloves on, and was such a hit when it was introduced that it won the 2007 Knife of the Year Award during the IWA & OutdoorClassics exhibition, the largest knife exhibition in the world.
This knife has some very nice features on it so let’s go over them.
♦ Main Blade – 3 3/8″ long with a liner-lock. Combination serrated/smooth blade with the serrated portion located toward the blunt ended tip. It is very sharp.
♦ Screwdriver/Bottle Opener/ Wire Stripper – About 1 3/8″ long and features a liner-lock. The flat tip is about 5/16″ wide and is strong enough to be used to pry things.
♦ Window Smasher – Used for smashing windows and breaking things this piece is removable and replaceable.
♦ Seatbelt Cutter – About 3 5/8″ long with a curved upward blunt tip. The blade is fully serrated and is very sharp.
♦ Disc Saw – 3 1/2″ long with a blunt tip. Used to saw through safety glass after you have punched a hole in it. It is removable and replaceable.
♦ Phillips Screwdriver – Extends 1 1/2″ from the handle is fairly large.
♦ Tooth Pick – Decent size 2″ toothpick.
♦ Tweezers – 1 3/4″ tweezer
♦ Punch/Reamer – 1 1/2″ long and very sharp
♦ Luminescent Handles – The yellow handles actually glow in the dark.
♦Key Ring/Nylon Loop – Very handy to remove the knife from the sheath
The Sheath is bright red with yellow piping around the edges. It appears to be nylon reinforced leather and has the Victorinox logo on the velcro closure flap. The belt loop is very large. It should be able to fit on a fairly thick 3 1/2″ belt and is reinforced with 2 rivets on each end. The loop is 1 1/2″ wide.
So there you have it, quite a lot of features for a “pocket” knife. So the question remains, is this knife really capable of helping you out in a rescue situation?? Well the answer is a definitive Yes it is. The following link will take you to a video on the Victorinox site of this knife in action and it proves just how tuff and capable this knife really is. http://www.swissarmy.com/Flash/RescueTool_video/rescuetool_video.aspx
First Responders have used this knife to break windows, slice seat belts, cut off ski vests & clothing, pry open windows and doors, and the list goes on and on. This knife would also be totally at home on a camping trip with it’s very sharp blade and many other features.
The Victorinox Rescue Knife comes with a set of instructions which describe the basic functions of the knife as it pertains to rescue situations. This Victorinox Rescue is a great tool for Firefighters, EMT’s, Police Officers, and any other First Responders, but it is also a great tool for just about anyone to have in there vehicle for emergency situations. As a follow up note, this knife is quickly becoming my favorite knife of all time. The special seatbelt cutting blade makes very quick work of slicing through a seatbelt. The narrow blade design with the blunt tip is very easy to slide up and under the belt, and with a quick pull away from the persons body quickly slices the belt.
The Victorinox Swiss Army Rescue Tool is also available with a Black handle, model #54900. l
Tags: EMS, EMT, Firefighters, First Responder, First Response, Paramedic, Rescue Knife, Rescue Tools
